globeandmail.com: Van City sizzles, T.O. = fizzles

Van City sizzles, T.O. fizzles

New York's finest are making waves on the West Coast while = one of=20 Toronto's best bolts elsewhere. As one city shines and another loses its = lustre,=20 Beppi Crosariol reports on what may be the passing of a prestigious = torch: the=20 culinary capital of Canada

BEPPI CROSARIOL

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

April 23, 2008 at 10:39 AM EDT

Torontonians have long been flattered by the "New York of the North" = conceit.=20 Canada's largest city, after all, is also the country's business capital = and,=20 one could argue, its key cultural and entertainment hub.

So one might forgive a self-respecting Toronto foodie for recoiling = at the=20 news that two of Manhattan's legendary culinary stars, Jean-Georges = Vongerichten=20 and Daniel Boulud, are bypassing the Centre of the Universe to set up = their=20 first Canadian outposts thousands of miles away in, yes, Vancouver.

As reported in this newspaper last week, Mr. Vongerichten is = negotiating a=20 new restaurant in the Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver, scheduled to open = early next=20 year. Though nothing's been signed, the project is rumoured to be a = high-end=20 destination restaurant.

Mr. Vongerichten, who oversees 17 restaurants and has been dubbed a=20 "superchef" by New York Times critic Frank Bruni, would follow in the = clog steps=20 of fellow French expatriate Mr. Boulud, best known for the Manhattan = dining=20 temple Daniel.

Last month, Mr. Boulud announced a partnership with David and Manjy = Sidoo,=20 owners of Lumi=E8re and Feenie's, two restaurants founded by the = recently departed=20 Rob Feenie. Under the plan, the New Yorker will take over both locations = and=20 rebrand the less formal Feenie's as DB Bistro Moderne Vancouver.

As if that weren't enough, Susur Lee, considered by many to be = Canada's most=20 internationally renowned chef, is adding injury to insult. Mr. Lee last = month=20 dropped the bombshell he is closing his Toronto flagship location, = Susur, and=20 heading south to the greener culinary pastures of New York's Lower East=20 Side.

"I was kind of shocked," said Mark Bittman, a New York Times food = writer who=20 also maintains a popular blog at Bitten.blogs.nytimes.com. "He just = seemed like=20 a Toronto calling card, and I thought that was kind of a shame."

All of which, with due respect to Montreal, which has always excelled = at=20 French-based cuisine, would seem to raise the question: Has Vancouver = trumped=20 Toronto as Canada's culinary capital?

It depends on whom you ask, of course, but it seems to be getting = easier to=20 find an unqualified yes.

"Vancouver is a much more vibrant and favourable place for = restaurateurs and=20 chefs willing to do things professionally," said Pino Posteraro, = chef-owner of=20 Cioppino's, one of the city's top-ranked restaurants.

"I believe that, except for a few people, chefs [in Toronto] have = lost the=20 drive and the focus."

Harsh words. But if anyone is entitled to that kind of assessment, = it's Mr.=20 Posteraro.

An Italian native, Mr. Posteraro rose to prominence in Toronto during = the=20 city's culinary heyday of the 1980s with Celestino's and later Borgo = Antico=20 before being lured to Vancouver in the mid-1990s by restaurateur Umberto = Menghi,=20 eventually striking out on his own once more with Cioppino's in = 1999.

Mr. Posteraro rattles off a litany of West Coast idols widely = considered the=20 best in the country for their respective cuisines. Among them: Vikram = Vij of the=20 modern Indian restaurant Vij's, Hidekazu Tojo of the haute Japanese = institution=20 Tojo's and Robert Clark of the pioneering sustainable seafood temple C=20 Restaurant. Then there's the elder statesman of modern Vancouver fine = dining,=20 John Bishop, whose eponymous restaurant has been the incubator for an = inordinate=20 number of careers, including Mr. Vij's. Another notable acolyte is = Jeremie=20 Bastien, a twentysomething Quebec native lighting up the stove at = Gastown hot=20 spot Boneta.

Mr. Posteraro contrasts the environment with the Toronto he sees = today, a=20 once dynamic white-tablecloth scene that has largely yielded way to = "cheap and=20 cheerful" eateries churning out virtual assembly-line dishes catering to = a less=20 demanding clientele. "When I left Toronto, it was vibrant, it was = beautiful," he=20 said. "And then the pseudo-pizzerias, they started to ruin it a = bit."

Besides Mr. Boulud and Mr. Vongerichten, another international star = adding=20 lustre to the Vancouver scene is Warren Geraghty, who in February landed = with a=20 splash in the kitchen at West restaurant after working as executive chef = of=20 L'Escargot, the Michelin-starred Soho establishment of famed London = restaurateur=20 Marco Pierre White. Mr. Geraghty succeeded David Hawksworth, the maestro = who=20 built West's reputation as one of the country's top restaurants and who = is=20 planning his own establishment in the redeveloped Hotel Georgia.

Many in the city also are awaiting the imminent opening of the = downtown=20 flagship location of Cactus Club Cafe, a Western Canada chain whose new = "food=20 concept architect" is none other than Mr. Feenie, Vancouver's superstar = of the=20 stove and Iron Chef champion.

"There's stuff happening at every level," said Tim Pawsey, Vancouver=20 co-editor of the Zagat Survey, the New York-based restaurant-ranking=20 service.

And Vancouver's purported supremacy is more than a figment of local=20 perception.

"It would almost seem like Vancouver has picked up the torch," said = Chris=20 McDonald, executive chef and partner of Cava, a casual Spanish-style = restaurant=20 in Toronto. Mr. McDonald, who ran Toronto's acclaimed Avalon for 11 = years before=20 rolling out his less-formal tapas concept, described Vancouver as having = more of=20 the genuine substance and curious appetite of a "world class" city,=20 preconditions for a thriving fine-dining scene.

Despite consistent acclaim for Avalon, he said, the place failed to = pull in=20 enough well-heeled traffic, notably Bay Street deal makers, to enable = him to=20 continue with his high-end, multicourse cuisine. "Just because we have = the most=20 important stock exchange in Canada doesn't mean we have a city that's = going to=20 spend its wealth in restaurants," he said.

Chris Nuttall-Smith, a former food editor for Toronto Life magazine, = says=20 while he is continually excited by Toronto restaurants, new, creative = chefs=20 sometimes aren't drawing the crowds they deserve. As a former = Vancouverite, he=20 says patrons on the West Coast tend to be more adventurous and keen for=20 avant-garde cuisine.

Much of the problem, he believes, has to do with "old money" Toronto = wealth=20 compared with the "new money" of Vancouver's predominantly young = entrepreneurs=20 in technology and real estate. "In Vancouver, it's not all tied up in = corduroy=20 curtains and starched shirts," he said. "People with money in Vancouver = don't=20 need to go to the guy who's been doing it for 20 years. It's a less = conservative=20 audience."

Indeed, among Vancouver's estimated 100 new openings in 2007, about = 40 were=20 fine-dining spots.

Mr. Nuttall-Smith also laments that there are conspicuous and = inexplicable=20 weaknesses in Toronto's culinary repertoire. He has yet to locate a = great=20 seafood restaurant, he said, and finds it unnerving that his adopted = city can be=20 so far behind Vancouver with respect to two trends, Southern barbecue = and=20 Japanese gastro-pubs known as izakayas.

But Toronto is hardly devolving into a culinary backwater, of course. = Mr.=20 Nuttall-Smith cites Claudio Aprile of Colborne Lane, Scot Woods of = Lucien and=20 Mark Cutrara of organic-meat emporium Cowbell among the new leading = lights. And=20 more established chefs such as Splendido's David Lee and Scaramouche's = Keith=20 Froggett continue to garner near-universal praise.

Nor is Vancouver, strictly speaking, the only city attracting = international=20 chef-lebrities. Wolfgang Puck, Hollywood's famed pizza slinger to the = stars, who=20 runs Spago and dozens of caf=E9-style spinoffs worldwide (not to mention = a brand=20 of supermarket foods and line of small appliances and cookware), is = slated to=20 open two casual-service destinations called Wolfgang Puck Toronto Bistro = later=20 this year. The concept - which switches from fast-food-style ordering at = breakfast and lunch to full service at dinner - however, is clearly not = in the=20 vaunted league of Mr. Boulud's investment in Lumi=E8re and Mr. = Vongerichten's=20 rumoured plans for the Shangri-La.

Perhaps more significantly for Toronto, this summer will see the=20 much-anticipated return of Franco Prevedello. Venetian-born Mr. = Prevedello, who=20 blazed a trail for Ital-chic cuisine starting in the early 1980s with = such=20 successes as Biffi, Pronto and Centro, retreated from the business years = ago to=20 pursue real estate and clothing. His new "light and fresh" venture will = be a=20 120-seat dining room operated with partners Yannick Bigourdan and Mr. = Lee of=20 Splendido. Its name, Nota Bene (which Mr. Prevedello translates as "pay=20 attention") would seem to be pregnant with meaning.

"Is Toronto in a bit of a lull?" Mr. Prevedello said, repeating a = reporter's=20 question. "Could be."

Applauding Vancouver for managing to attract Mr. Boulud, Mr. Geraghty = and Mr.=20 Vongerichten, he added he wishes Toronto could some day do something = similar.=20

"I think it's been too much of the same for too long," he said. "We = need some=20 more international traffic. Let them come. Let them show us something = new and=20 let people get excited about dining again."

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1.	Marriage=20 + kids + money =3D kiss your sleep goodbye 3:51 AM 21
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3.	Inquiry=20 possible into Baltovich case 12:29 PM 25
4.	Van=20 City sizzles, T.O. fizzles 10:39 AM 16
5.	CBC=20 catches second-round breaks 10:33 AM 6
6.	Harper=20 warns U.S. that Canada will bite back on NAFTA 22/04/08 9:36 PM 181
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1.	Marriage=20 + kids + money =3D kiss your sleep goodbye 3:51 AM 21
2.	Van=20 City sizzles, T.O. fizzles 10:39 AM 16
3.	Big=20 retailers to pull pesticides off shelves 4:54 AM 89
4.	Romancing=20 the Alfa Romeo 2:30 = AM=20 20
5.	Sperm=20 under siege 22/04/08 11:01=20 AM 18
6.	Ontario=20 in recession, UofT says 8:11=20 AM 56
7.	U=20 of T scientist puts odds on lost tomb 22/04/08 4:17 AM 134
8.	The=20 problem with poo 22/04/08 9:12=20 AM 112
9.	Nexen=20 shares touch all-time high on gas find 1:00 PM
10.	Sam's=20 Club limits sales of rice in U.S. 11:27 AM =

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= 231	Minister=20 'surprised' by Lee's ire 231
197<= /TD>	Ignatieff=20 dinner aimed at eating up debt 197
181	Harper=20 warns U.S. that Canada will bite back on NAFTA 181
146	Clinton=20 win extends bitter battle 146=20

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Van City sizzles, T.O. fizzles

New York's finest are making waves on the West Coast while = one of=20 Toronto's best bolts elsewhere. As one city shines and another loses its = lustre,=20 Beppi Crosariol reports on what may be the passing of a prestigious = torch: the=20 culinary capital of Canada

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Follow this writer

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Most Popular

Marriage=20 + kids + money =3D kiss your sleep goodbye 3:51 AM 21

Van=20 City sizzles, T.O. fizzles 10:39 AM 16

The=20 problem with poo 22/04/08 9:12=20 AM 112

Schools=20 that cut fat and sugar saw dramatic results 22/04/08 9:06 AM 31

Sperm=20 under siege 22/04/08 11:01=20 AM 18

Parental=20 guidance needed 22/04/08 9:20=20 AM 3

Marathon=20 vacations 19/04/08 = 12:56=20 PM

How= =20 do I choose the right car seat for my child? 22/04/08 11:07 AM = 11

Saving=20 the world from Frankenwines 10:41 AM

Travel=20 writers' guidelines 18/04/06=20 7:35 PM =

Marriage=20 + kids + money =3D kiss your sleep goodbye 3:51 AM 21

Ontario=20 in recession, UofT says 8:11=20 AM 56

Inquiry=20 possible into Baltovich case 12:29 PM 25

Van=20 City sizzles, T.O. fizzles 10:39 AM 16

CBC=20 catches second-round breaks 10:33 AM 6

Harper=20 warns U.S. that Canada will bite back on NAFTA 22/04/08 9:36 PM 181

Canadian=20 in Mexico 'devastated' by verdict 4:30 AM

How=20 a Habs playoff win became Montreal's loss 4:55 AM 110

GE=20 sees tougher economic times ahead 1:16 PM 3

Big=20 retailers to pull pesticides off shelves 4:54 AM 89=20

Marriage=20 + kids + money =3D kiss your sleep goodbye 3:51 AM 21

Van=20 City sizzles, T.O. fizzles 10:39 AM 16

Big=20 retailers to pull pesticides off shelves 4:54 AM 89

Romancing=20 the Alfa Romeo 2:30 = AM=20 20

Sperm=20 under siege 22/04/08 11:01=20 AM 18

Ontario=20 in recession, UofT says 8:11=20 AM 56

U=20 of T scientist puts odds on lost tomb 22/04/08 4:17 AM 134

The=20 problem with poo 22/04/08 9:12=20 AM 112

Nexen=20 shares touch all-time high on gas find 1:00 PM

Sam's=20 Club limits sales of rice in U.S. 11:27 AM =

Minister=20 'surprised' by Lee's ire 231

Ignatieff=20 dinner aimed at eating up debt 197

Harper=20 warns U.S. that Canada will bite back on NAFTA 181

Clinton=20 win extends bitter battle 146=20

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Stylish=20 and =97 dare I say it? =97 sensible

Real Estate

An=20 ocean liner of a home, safely moored

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